Control apparatus for oil burners



Jan. 13,1942 K. FRENCH 2,269,848

CONTROL APPARATUS FOR OIL BURNERS Filed May 2, 1940 lul @a g hvnndhFrench.

Patented Jan. 13, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,269,843 CONTROLAPPARATUS FOR OIL BURNERS Kenneth French, Waterbury, Conn.

Application lMay 2, 1940, Serial No. 332,999

(ci. s- 28) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to oil burner controls, and more particularly toan improved apparatus for automatically controlling the flow of oil froma supply tank to an oil burner.

The control apparatus of this invention is primarily designed for usewith oil burners of the Itype wherein a pilot light is kept burningconthe desired low fire and a thermostatically and electromagneticallycontrolled main valve for producing the operation of the high re whenneeded.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improvedcontrol apparatus for oil burners of the above nature which will berelatively inexpensive to manufacture, simple in construction, compact,ornamental in appearance, and very eicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, there has been illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing one form in which the invention maybe conveniently embodied inpractice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a schematic layout of an oil burner system showing thedisposition of the control apparatus of thisinvention in relation to anoil burner and a source of fuel supply.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the improved control apparatuswith theprotecting cover shown necting the supplytank I0 directly. to the oilburner mechanism II as is usual in oil burner installations, anintermediate fuel reservoir I1 is located therebetween, said reservoirI1 being connected to said tank Ill by a pipe I3. The switch I2 iselectrically connected to a line wire L' by a conductor I5, yand theburner II isconnected to a line wire L2 by a conductor I6. Any suitablestandard mechanism (not shown) may be employed to maintain the fuellevel in the reservoir I1 at a point above the inlets to the needlevalves.,4 f

The fuel reservoir I1 has a threaded fuel inlet connector I8 upon whicha threaded collar on the end of the pipe I3 is adapted to be screwed,and an outlet I9 is provided which is connected to the oil burner valvesby a pipe 20. Thereserf voir I1 is shown mounted on a vertical standard2| so that the reservoir may be elevated above the burner II. A low fireor pilot control valve 23 is disposed in the reservoir I1 below the fuellevel 22, and includes a valve seat 24 disposed between an inlet port 25covered by a screen 26 and an outlet port 21. A needle valve stem 2B,screw threaded into a boss 29 extending upwardly Ffrom the valve 23,passes through a. stuiiing box l3i) and then upwardly through va flatcover.3I provided for the reservoir I1. Above the cover 3l the valvestem 28 has a thumb knob 32 secured thereto, upon which is provided apointer 33 adapted to be moved over a circular dial 34 providedl on thecover 3| to visually indicate the position of the valve 23.

The outlet port 21 of the valve 23 is connected -through an integraltubular portion-35 to an outlet port 36, provided in a vertical valvebody 31, and which is in .connection with the reservoir outlet I9. Thetubular portion 35, in this instance, is shown screw threaded, as at 38,into the valve body 31, and the latter extends-from'the cover 3| to thebottom 39 of the reservoir, and is secured to each by nutsdll and 4Irespectively screwed upon upper and lower screw threaded ends 42 and 43of the valve body 31. The valve body 31 is `counter-bored downwardlyfrom its upper end 42, and in this bore 44 a needle valve stem 45 isadapted to slide. The bore 44 is connected with the outlet port 36through a port 46, and with the fuel supply, below its level 22 in thereservoir I1, by an inlet port 41 which is also covof a coiled spring 50seated against its upper end.

rIfhe spring 59 is arranged to constantly react between the enlargedportionv 49 .of the stem 45 and the nut E0 to normally hold the valvestem 45 in valve closing position in the port 46. The

valve stem 45 has an extension 5I above the enlarged portion 49, whichpasses upwardly through the'nut d@ and is connected to one Vend of afirstclass lever 52 by a short link- 53. The lever 52 is pivoted at`54to a vertical post 55 secured to the cover 3l by a screw 56. The otherend of the lever 52 is pivotally connected loosely to a core member 51which is adapted to freely move up and down in the bore 58 of acylindrical solenoid 59. The solenoid 59 is secured to the cover 3| by aband 60 andscrews orrivets 6I. Electrical conductors 62 and 63 areexibly connected with the solenoid 59 and lead to the thermostaticallycontrolled switch I2, through the conductor I4, to the line wire L2, andthrough the conductor I6, respectively, whereby the solenoid 59 will beenergized when the thermostatic switch I2 is closed. A protecting cover64 removably hinged at 65 to the cover 3i is provided with a catchfinger 66 adapted to engage in a slot 61 in the cover 3l.

Operation After the burner is lighted, the valve 23 will be manually setto maintain the desired degree of low fire, or to maintain a pilot flameof the proper size. When the -thermostatically controlled switch I2 isactuated by the lowering of the room temperature, the solenoid 59 willbe energized to attract the core member 51 downwardly. Movement of thecore member 51 down wardly into the solenoid bore 58 tilts the level- 52about its pivot 54, and through the link 53, and the stem extension 5Iraises the needle valve stem 45 to open the port 46 and allow fuel tonow from the reservoir to the burner mechanism I I through the outlet I9to provide a high lire.

The provision of a reservoir in which the inlets y It will be understoodthat the present invention may be installed on an oll burner of any typealready in use or newly constructed. In the latter case, the reservoirwill preferably be made as an integral part of the usual reservoirprovided therein.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in whichthe invention may be embodied, 1t is to be understood that this form isshown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention isnot to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all the modiilcations and embodimentscoming' within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In an oil burner control apparatus, a housing containing oil, saidhousing having an inlet for connection to a source of oil supply and anoutlet for connection to an oil burner, a vertical valve chamber in saidhousing directly above and connected with said outlet, a main valve seatin said vertical valve chamber, a normally closed main valve forengaging said main valve seat, a side chamber connected to said verticalchamber below said main valve seat, said side chamber having a verticalupstanding section, a pilot valve seat in said side chamber, a pilotvalve in said upstanding section for engaging said pilot valve seat,said vertical chamber having an inlet opening below the oil surface andabove said main valve seat, said side chamber having an inlet openingbelow said pilot valve seat, said main valve having a stem extendingabove the top of said housing for connection to a thermostaticallyoperated mechanism to automatically open said valve when high heat iscalled for, said pilot valve also having a stem extending above the topof said housing,- and having a manually-operated Y control handleconnected thereto.

KENNETH FRENCH.

